Photograph
by Konsui's Little Brother
Summary: Sometimes, all that you have left is the memory of what used to be. And, sometimes, that memory is all that gives you peace.


A/N: An expanded version of the drabble featured in my story 'Timed Challenge: X-Men'.

* * *

It was one of the few things Jamie had managed to hold onto through the years. A small, wrinkled picture of everyone, Brotherhood and X-Men alike, standing together in front of the X-Mansion. It had been taken right after they had all banned together to defeat Apocolypse.

It was taken three weeks before the mansion was raided and a 'warrent' was put out on the head of every mutant.

Well, not really a warrent. It was a bounty. They placed it on the head of every mutant in America.

You got the money if you brought them in dead, anywhere from $300 to $1,000 depending on who it was. He heard that someone had gotten almost $3,000 for bringing in the corpse of Beast. The thing was, the Government paid more for live mutants.

After all, the Friends Of Humanity couldn't perform the same tests on dead mutants as they could live ones.

But it was a lot more difficult for them to get their hands on a living mutant. Especially now that everyone knew where they would be going, what they would have to endure. They would rather off themselves on the way to the facility then let the doctors get a hold of them.

Jamie gave Todd the credit for that. It had been the small, toad-like mutant to get away from the FOH; physically at least. Last Jamie had seen him, curled up on a cot in the underground safe house that Mystique had opened up, there wasn't much of the boy left. Just an empty shell of what had been and the truth of what happened when you were unlucky enough to be caught.

_...He'd moved on, found someone that really cared for him, but he'd still thrown his life away to protect her..._

It was a far cry from the half-grinning Todd, crouched down inbetween Wanda and Kurt in his photo.

Even now, with blood running down his face and into his eyes, he could recognize all of the faces in that picture. But it was so very hard to say it...

The face of Rayne, who he had never gotten the courage to kiss, with one arm slung over the shoulders of Sam. They looked so happy together, Jamie had never been able to take tell her that he loved her, he didn't want to take her away from it.

_...They'd never gotten the chance to have the children they both dreamed of..._

Instead, Sam had fled. The farm boy had taken off, hiding himself away in the outskirts of Michigan, safe from the madness. And Rahne, his beloved Scotts-woman, had floundered to stand on her only to be snatched away; dissapearing into the darkness of the night and never being spotted again.

And, of course, Ray's face caught his attention. The Berzerker was slouching in the back of the frame, arms over his chest, scowling out at the camera; he never had liked to have his picture taken.

_...He was finally starting to mellow out..._

The older mutant, the one that Jamie had thought of as a brother, had been cornered in the middle of a rainstorm. Which figured, seeing as the Berzerker's powers would kill him if he used them while he was wet. But, even before they knew where the caputered mutant's were being taken, Ray was too proud to let himself be caught. And all it took to get away was a single charge through his body.

In the photo, Amara was next to the living lightening bolt. On the other side of her, with one arm snaked protectively around a tanned stomache, stood Tabby. Amara's head was tilted up slightly, eyes glinting, betraying her royal lineage.

_...They don't shine like that anymore..._

The Nova Roma princess was one of the top leaders in the fight against the FOH, going so far as to take out the Governer of Minnisotta; who was a huge supporter of the anti-mutant act. And she'd been that way since the day they'd found her, a sobbing mess, strewn across the already cold body of Tabitha.

In the photo, still clutched in trembling hands, Lance was standing behind Kitty. The Brotherhood mutant's arms were wrapped around the smaller girl, a content smile on his face.

_...There's nothing but love in that gaze..._

And that was the same look he'd had on his face the last time Jamie had seen him. Lance had told him to take Kitty and run, as far and as fast as they could, and he had smiled that same smile. Two weeks later, the brunet's wanted poster was taken down; a sign that, along with the downfall of the Eastern half of New York, the Brotherhood boy hadn't survived the fight.

The sight of Bobby, standing in the corner of the picture with his arms wrapped around Jubilee's shoulders, brought a wan smile to his face. Even in the picture, the two love-birds looked as happy as could be.

_...Safe now..._

Some of the only mutants that Jamie knew had gotten away. The two had slipped away, using the cover of night, abandoning all hope that Xavier could still protect them. As far as he knew, Bobby and Jubilee were safe on the other side of the Canadian border.

A laugh, throaty and wet, bubbled from his throat; blood forced itself in between his lips, following the noise, and his vision swam. Looking at them all there, together like that, it was almost like he was back again. Back with everyone he loved and cared for and...

_...Miss 'em..._

Their lives had been completely turned upside down, torn up, and tossed out the window. And he knew that. Just like he knew that this was his last fight, his last stand, and that staring at a picture wasn't going to do anything.

But, even as he fell, his eyes never left the photo.

And it was all that he could do, pain lacing through his body and no breath left in him, to keep his grip on that thin piece of paper. He knew that it was a stupid thought, a stupid thing to do, but he had to let them know. And this was the only way he knew how.

"...Goodbye..."


End file.
